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Sukuna’s first priority is to decorate his home the best he can. His second priority is to make sure that his nephew has the best birthday ever, better than the one he had last year. He wants to exceed whatever expectations Yuji might have of this day and his uncle. Even if Yuji is unaware that this is actually happening.
Sukuna has been planning this day for the past three months; what stuff to get, what to eat, where it should take place, who to invite and what theme the party will have. He has discussed with his twin brother and his wife— Yuji's parents —about the specific theme this party would be.
But they couldn’t agree on what Yuji would like the most, because that kid changes interest faster than the weather changes, and they don’t want to have a disappointed kid on their hands. So, now, Sukuna is balancing precariously on a wooden stool, his tongue sticking out in concentration while he’s attempting to put up a banner with uttermost perfection.
He has bought two different banners; one monster high themed and one spider man themed because that was what the brat was currently into.
His arms shakes from the exertion, shoulders aching from holding his arms up for such a long time, trying to make sure that the banner is sitting straight and not crooked, to make sure it doesn't bend or look weird.
He puts his forehead to the wall, a quiet thud echoing throughout his living room, holding the small, paper triangles in place as he shakes out his arms with a sigh in an attempt to relieve the ache.
He really wants this to be better than last year.
He recalls Yuji's birthday from last year. A memory nobody cherishes or likes to bring up even though it was a birthday; a day that should've been fun, but instead had been a day that ended in tears instead of laughter.
Sukuna looks towards where his nephew is sitting patiently at a kid's table, his hands pressed between his thighs and his legs crossed but swinging back and forth, shoes scuffing against the floor.
He had picked out his outfit by himself, his favorite shirt and his most comfortable jeans with some patches sewn on. On his head is a sparkly cone-shaped birthday hat. One that was different from the others, so that people knew that he was the birthday boy. His unruly hair has been comped down, a poor attempt at trying to tame the pink locks.
The lights from the arcade Sukuna has rented illuminated the whole room. Strobes of blue, red and purple were flashing in slow, lazy motions. Like a rave, but for children.
Yuji sat in his chair, turning his head this way and that. Waiting. Expecting. Every time a door opened, he perked up with excitement, eyes wide and a smile playing on his lips— only to shrink back when he saw it was staff or some stranger passing through.
The party was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago.
Sukuna had booked this place a good while back and expected to have at least twenty kids on his hands. He had invited Yuji's whole class, taken it upon himself to be the adult in charge. To supervise those who would show up, anything for his nephew.
Sukuna had made homemade birthday cards with his nephew right by his side. Yuji dictating what colors they should use, how big Sukuna should write and how it would be decorated however Yuji seemed fit. Yuji’s mission was then to take the invitations with him to school and hand them out to everyone in class. Simple. Easy.
He was so excited, chattering excitedly and waving his hands around as they crafted the cards, buzzing with anticipation and elation as he packed the cards neatly away in his backpack, ready to hand them out as soon as he got to school. Sukuna’s number was written on all the cards in case anyone couldn’t come so they could let him know, he also noted when the latest date to respond was, so he'd know how much stuff he'd need to buy.
He invited twenty five children.
Fifteen children declined with some half assed excuses; football tournaments, busy with other stuff, not interested.
Five children canceled at the last minute; one kid got sick, the other had an emergency doctor's appointment, and the other didn't have a ride.
Sukuna doesn’t know what happened to the rest, but the party’s start was dragging on the longer they kept waiting. He glanced down at his watch, it has now been twenty minutes since it should have started, the time Sukuna had underlined three times with bold color on the cards.
His eyes drifted towards Yuji again, he was now shrunken back in his chair, looking so small for a child turning six years old. Sukuna saw his lip started to tremble and how the kid quickly bit down on it to hide it, his teeth gnawing on it like a piece of candy.
Sukuna walked closer and crouched down beside him, brushing back some pink bangs in an attempt to catch the kid’s eyes.
Yuji didn’t look at him.
Sukuna, feeling for his nephew, tried to be gentle when he spoke. “I think it might be time to start, just you and me, hmm? What do you say?” he asks, bumping Yuji's shoulder, trying to cheer him up.
He instantly shook his head, eyes wide with panic and something akin to desperation. “No! Maybe it's traffic ‘Kuna. I think someone will show up soon so we can’t just leave, they might get lost without someone greeting them.”
Sukuna doesn't want to pity his nephew, but it's damn hard not to, especially when he had been so excited for this, looking forward to this day since months back.
He wraps an arm around small shoulders, holding him firmly. “I don’t think so pumpkin… but let’s not think about them, we'll have fun either way, don't need those boring punks here anyways. Come on, we’re going to have a blast.”
Yuji's lip begins to wobble again, and he sniffles violently. “But… maybe– they might…” his voice lost its confidence as he finally started to cry.
Sukuna brought him close and hugged him tightly, his chin resting on Yuji’s crown.
“Why aren't they coming? Don't they like me?” he sobbed against his uncle's shoulder, his emotions getting the best of him. “I wanted to make friends! I thought this would work, if I invited everyone. They don't ever play with me, they think I'm weird. They always go to each other's birthday parties so I thought they would come to mine. Nobody likes me…”
Sukuna rubs his palm up and down Yuji’s back, kissing his temples, nudging his cheeks with his nose, trying to calm him down, but it's no use. His emotions came crashing down over him and there's nothing he can do to stop it, he just has to let him cry it out.
Yuji rips his hand free from Sukuna's hug, reaching up to snatch the hat off of his head but Sukuna is faster. He catches his wrist in a firm hold, but not hard enough to hurt him, and puts it back on his head, securing the small strap underneath Yuji’s chin. He reaches over the table to grab another hat that sat on a paper plate, one that a child was supposed to wear and situates it on his own head.
“There,” Sukuna notes.
Yuji giggled miserably, wiping his eyes, smearing his tears all over his face at this point. “We're matching.”
Sukuna hums. “Well, not exactly, you have the gold glitter hat because you're the birthday boy, mine is silver.” Sukuna shrugged. “There was only one gold hat for the birthday boy, of course he would need to have it, everyone needs to know that it's your day.”
He stood up with a grunt and brushed off his pants, offering his hand for Yuji to take. His hand engulfing Yuji’s. Small, wet fingers threaded through his bigger ones. Sukuna led him towards some of the games the place provided, some a kid of Yuji's age would be able to understand and play. Sukuna paid for everything, spoiling his nephew rotten, because he would try with everything he has to make sure that Yuji would feel a tiny bit better. To make sure that he had at least one good memory from this day, something he can look back to and smile at.
He bought as much ice cream the kid could handle, won him a plushie bigger than him and was even allowed to play a game with guns!– After making a deal that this would stay between the two of them. His mother would have Sukuna’s neck if she knew.
But he would do anything for his nephew, so it would be worth it if anything were to happen to him.
As the day came to an end and they walked back to the car, the sky was warm with the last ray of sunlight. Yuji was bouncing in his step as he slurped loudly on a slushy, the contents sloshing against the mug and lid. “Thanks ‘Kuna! I had a really fun day!”
Sukuna relaxed, a soft smile on his face as he peered down at Yuji. “I’m glad. You deserve it.”
When they're almost where the car is parked, a group of teenagers were closing in on them. They first caught sight of Sukuna before it dropped to his nephew. One person focused on his hat and immediately lit up.
“Is it your birthday?” she gasped loudly and crouched down on the balls of her heels, a smile evident on her face.
Yuji blushed a little, becoming a bit shy as he ducked behind Sukuna’s leg and nodded where his head was still visible, pink strands moving with the motion, cheek brushing against Sukuna’s thigh, hands tightly gripping his dress pants.
“It's actually my birthday too!” she exclaimed, delighted.
Yuji lit up.
“How old are you turning sweetie?” she asks, voice soft and slightly slurring.
“Six…” he muttered shyly, peeking out from his hiding.
Sukuna chuckled softly from above.
Another of her friends began digging through her purse, muttering to herself. “I thought… it was in here… hmmm… here!” She pulls out a lollipop as well as a chocolate bar. She crouches down next to her friend and starts to reach out before she looks up at Sukuna. “Am I allowed to give these to him?” she asks and shows him the contents. “As, like, a birthday gift?”
He thinks for a moment, looking down at Yuji before he nods at her.
Yuji is quick to take the small chocolate bar and thanks her politely with a bow. “Happy birthday,” he mutters when he straightens, voice barely louder than a mumble.
They laughed softly before wishing him a happy birthday, they stood up, wobbling slightly before they went on their way, probably to some bar.
In the car, Yuji quickly fell asleep to the sound of his favorite cartoon playlist playing from the radio, a smile etched on his face even in sleep.
“What are you doing?” comes a dry, but amused voice, bringing him back to the moment.
Sukuna groans. “Resting my arms, it takes a lot to put these up y’know?”
Choso hums and walks over to the kotatsu in the living room, setting down small plastic plates accompanied with some paper cups, each plate got one party hat each and there were name tags by each seat, not that any would follow those tags but that doesn’t matter, it’s the thought that counts.
Choso had arrived early with Yuki to help set everything up because Sukuna was in over his head when he counted how long it would take to set everything up, so he had to resort to calling for backup, hence why the couple is now here early.
Yuji was going to be delighted, thrilled, elated, all of those words. He didn't know that they were planning this, it was a secret birthday party after all, all he knew was that he was going over to uncle Sukuna’s to ‘hang out.’
They learnt their lesson last year. To not let Yuji know anything about it, so he doesn't get his hopes up even though this year will be better, it will be a success. Especially after he shyly muttered to Sukuna that he didn’t want a birthday party. Sukuna suspects it might have something to do with what happened last year.
Yuki comes from the kitchen, her arms laden with a bowl of chips and another with candy, both bowls filled to the brim. She sets them down in the middle of the table before she picks up some spare decorations and proceeds to put them up.
Sukuna ties off the banner and steps down from the stool. He inspects his work with his hands on his hips before he deems it acceptable. He moves on to the next thing he needs to set up.
He looks towards the clock mounted on the wall and sees that he has about ten minutes before the kid is going to arrive, so he hurries up and fixes the last of the decorations and preparations that needs to be in place for this to work out.
It’s not long before he hears the telltale sound of wheels on gravel and a car turning off. He quickly mutters, “Put on your hats,” to Yuki and Choso before he goes to answer the door. Hands sweaty as he dries them off on his shirt.
He unlocks it with a quick flick of his wrist and whips it open, he stretches his arms out wide and crouches down to greet his nephew, a smile prominent on his face. This is one of his favorite things whenever he meets with Yuji, how he is a bundle of endless energy that bounds straight into his hold.
“Sukuna!” comes a delighted shout.
A flurry of motion is all Sukuna can see until he feels Yuji in his arms. Sukuna laughs at the impact, causing him to fall back on his ass. Yuji's arms wound up around his neck, gripping tightly, burying his head in his uncle's neck.
“Have you grown? You feel bigger. Are you taller? Did you grow overnight?” Sukuna teases, voice full of mirth. “Hmmm it feels like you have. Must be stronger too if you can make me lose my balance. Soon you’ll be as strong as me huh?”
Yuji giggles out loud, the sound filling the whole house, melting Sukuna's heart right with it.
“I’m turning seven!”
Sukuna hums, playing clueless, adding on to Yuji's laughter. “Are you? I did hear that there was a birthday boy around here somewhere. Is it you?”
“It is! It’s me Sukuna!” he jumps up and down, hands on his uncle's shoulders.
Sukuna plays along. “Well then, if you're a birthday boy I guess you must have one of these…” he says as he reaches over to the shelf right by the door and grabs a hold of the spiderman party hat he put there beforehand, and gives it to Yuji, putting it on his head. “There, now everyone will know it’s your birthday.”
“Is this a surprise birthday party?!”
Sukuna answers his question with a shrug, “Might be,” but his face hurts from how hard he's smiling.
Yuji whoops and pumps his fist into the air triumphantly, he toes off his shoes and hurries inside, gasping loudly at what he sees. Sukuna stands up and treks over to his nephew after greeting his parents. He overlooks the living room, seeing what Yuji is seeing.
The kotatsu table has a monster high cloth covering the dark wood with a bunch of monster high themed plates and mugs. The napkins are of spiderman along with the balloons that are literally everywhere. The banners are hung up by every entryway as well as the windows in the living room.
He shrieks in delight as he sees one of his favorite people. “Choso!” he exclaims and runs up to him. Choso catches him easily, a soft smile playing along his lips. “It’s my birthday! Oh, you also have a hat! I’m turning seven!” he rambles off.
“I know, seven years old is quite a lot huh?”
“It is!” he agrees, puffing out his chest slightly, his arm around Choso's shoulder to hold himself up. "I'm bigger now and I’m allowed to play with some Lego’s that I wasn’t old enough to build before!”
Choso hums as an answer.
“Then we must make sure that you have some Lego’s to play with, no? Since you are allowed to play with that minecraft lego set now,” muses another voice.
“Yuki!”
He wiggles in Choso’s hold until he's set down, he rushes over to her and hugs her waist, all he can reach at the moment. He mumbles excitedly, face smushed into her stomach as he talks about whatever. She chuckles and bends over, hugging him back before she brings him back up with her. She puts him on her shoulders.
“Now, I was supposed to wear a hat like yours but I couldn't quite put it on right, is there someone willing to help me?” she asks and looks around the room, searching for someone willing to help.
Yuji giggles and bends over her head, seeing her face upside down. “I can!”
She hands him the hat and lets him put it on her, he even fixes her bangs and makes sure they're not messed up.
He’s set down when there's a round of quick knocks on the door. Yuji immediately perks up and rushes after his uncle, the door opens and he finds Uraume on the other side. They greet Yuji kindly and offer him a quiet “Happy birthday,” before leaning down to hug him.
Yuji grabs their hand and pulls them after him, handing them a hat of their own and begging them to sit down next to him. Sukuna follows them before going to the kitchen, where he finds Jin and Kaori, fixing the last of everything.
Sukuna settles down by the table where Yuki and Choso are already sitting, by their name tags.
It doesn’t take long for Nanami and Haibara to show up, causing Yuji to happily run over to them and greet them enthusiastically, chattering on and on about how he was surprised by this party.
Yuji hands them each of their hats when they're seated by the table, he leans over to catch Sukuna’s eyes before he asks. “Is that everyone? Should we start?” He asks, even though he has no idea what Sukuna has planned for the day.
Sukuna leans over the table, copying Yuji and answers, his voice fond. “Actually, we’re missing some people. They're on their way so we can't start quite yet.”
That gives him the reaction he knew he would get.
He gasps out loud, his hands clasped over his mouth, eyes wide with barely contained excitement and wonder. “More! That’s so many! Who is it?! Who are we missing ‘Kuna?!” he bounces in his seat, unable to sit still through his excitement.
Sukuna hums, letting the kid be curious, annoying him. He shrugs, feigning nonchalance. “Guess we'll just have to wait and see, no?”
He groans out loud, head thunking against the table as he begins to whine to Nanami, asking him if he knows who they're waiting for, if he could tell Yuji.
Nanami just keeps his stoic facade up and tells him no, he doesn't know who's missing.
Eventually, after seven minutes of whining the door is opened and quickly closed again, someone inviting themselves in. There's some harsh whispering but not the kind of whispering that tells you that someone's in trouble or being scolded. There’s some jackets rustling along with shoes thudding against the floor and there's some whining and swear words that come from a high pitched voice. The person he invited almost as an afterthought, one that was more of a gamble if this would all work out.
Satoru comes into view, his hands hidden from sight, looking as if he's dragging someone. Sukuna looks up in time to see Satoru lean down and whisper quickly to someone. He straightens up and pulls the kid, hard. The kid stumbles forward— a frown etched onto his face, looking like he needs a nap or else he’ll be sour —before he quickly puts his heels down in an attempt to stop Satoru, to make sure that Satoru can't pull him anymore.
“Come on Megs… it’ll be fun,” Satoru tries to convince, but it doesn’t sound all that convincing. He looks around the room for help but no one stands up, they just sit and stare, some looking away, pretending that they're not sitting here watching a tantrum that's bound to happen.
Megumi, the child Satoru and Suguru adopted a year ago. A troubled kid that had been let down by the foster system time and time again, one that had been so neglected and left so traumatized that he hasn’t really been able to meet other kids because his needs and wellbeing said otherwise. Sukuna thought it might be nice for both kids to get to know each other in a safe and controlled environment, both alone in some way. So, he invited him to meet Yuji.
“No! I don't want to! I want to go home!” he shrieks as he pulls on Satoru’s hand, but all it does is jerk big arms, not really pulling Satoru anywhere. It seems to frustrate the child just a little more. “I wanna go home! Please! I don’t want to!” his voice turns into something more like desperate pleadings. “Suguru—!”
Suguru comes into view and crouches down next to Megumi to shield him from prying eyes. He talks to Megumi, quiet and low, maintaining eye contact with the kid. Sukuna looks away to grant them some privacy. No child wants to be stared at when expressing their emotions, even if it's in a tantrum-like manner.
Whatever Suguru says to him seems to do its job because the kid calms down when a big hand rubs against his back. He shyly looks up from underneath his lashes, scans the room in quick succession, eyes logging every new face and calculating where the doorways for escaping are.
Satoru walks over with a sigh and drops down by an empty seat with the energy of someone who hasn’t seen daylight in weeks. Suguru follows soon after with Megumi trailing behind his legs like a little duckling, hiding himself behind Suguru. He walks all the way over to Yuji and sits down next to him, sitting Megumi by his side, an arm around his shoulder. He’s basically glued to Suguru’s side, almost sitting in his lap.
He doesn’t trust adults, that much is clear.
Yuji seems undeterred by any of that.
He leans over to Megumi's side, goes all up in his personal space, making him jerk back a little, clearly startled.
“My name's Yuji! Nice to meet you!”
Megumi shrinks back into Suguru’s arm, trying so desperately to hide. Suguru nudges him, urging him to answer. Giving his son a pointed glance that doesn’t really mean anything other than encouragement. Go on. You can do it.
It takes a moment for him to answer, mustering up the courage to talk to another person aside from Satoru and Suguru. “I’m Megumi,” he squeaks out, voice barely louder than a whisper.
“That’s a pretty name. It’s my birthday today! How old are you?”
Megumi blushes a little at the compliment but relaxes a little. This wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. “I’m six… turning seven in December," he mutters, trying to shrink down under the table to hide.
Yuji gasps out loud and Sukuna cringes because he knows what Yuji is about to say.
“Wait! That makes us six seven! Six Seven! Six Seven! Six Seven!" he exclaims as he does the hand movements.
Megumi was wrong, this was bad. So much worse than he initially thought. He scoffs and turns to glare at Satoru, unimpressed and annoyed, because he was forced out of his home for this!? Dragged from his safe space to meet a kid that behaves like this, that behaves like Satoru?! Absolutely unacceptable!
Saotru just smiles and does the movements himself, whispering “Six seven” under his breath before he nods towards Yuji.
Megumi sighs and sits up a little straighter. “Yeah I guess so,” he shrugs.
Yuji leans over and points at his shirt. “I like your shirt, it's nice,” he compliments.
“Thanks, it's my favorite one.” It was a dress shirt, one that was nice and casual but not stiff like usual dress shirts. It was comfortable, just how Megumi liked it.
“You’re welcome!” a megawatt smile is thrown his way. “I’m really glad you could come today, even if I don't know you. I think we can become friends, do you want to be friends?” he rambles on. He does not wait for an answer, “This was a surprise party and I was really surprised when I came inside so I guess their plan worked so this party is already a success!” He’s all over the place right now but Yuji seemed to suddenly remember something, his eyes lit up with worry. “Wait! You don't have a hat.”
Megumi's eyes widened, shaking his head no. “I don't need one–” Megumi tries.
“Yes, you do! It's really important, trust me, you need to have a hat on at a birthday party, that's just how it works,” he was almost pleading.
He looks over the table for some leftover hats and grabs three, perfect, one for each person not wearing one. He hands one to Megumi, Suguru and to Satoru who eagerly takes his.
Megumi accepts the one Yuji hands to him but doesn't put it on. He fiddles with the cardboard ends of it, wringing his finger around the string, not looking at anyone.
Yuji's smile dims a little, wilting as his excitement becomes more subdued. “You don't want it?” he asks, unsure.
Megumi looks up at him, as if to protest against the question, but quickly looks away. Instead he looks up with a pleading glance at Suguru.
Suguru, ever the quick thinker, gently takes the hat from Megumi's fiddling fingers and asks Sukuna if they have any hairclips and a scissor he can borrow.
Megumi answers Yuji without keeping any eye contact, scared of the reaction he might get. “I do want it… but… I– I don't like when the string sits under my chin,” he trails off towards the end, his voice becoming quieter and more unsure, his finger picking at the monster high cloth.
Yuji blinks at him for a moment before he smiles again, seeming a bit more relieved at the answer.
Did Yuji think that Megumi would say something rude? Something mean? That he wouldn’t want to be here anymore?
"That's alright! I know it's uncomfortable, it can be itchy,” he adds thoughtfully. He puts his palms flat on the table and stands up, he grabs ahold of Megumi's hand and brings him up with him. “You can borrow some of my hairclips I keep here. I have a whole box here whenever I do face masks with my uncle to keep our hair back. You can take some of mine, it's okay,” he takes a deep breath when he’s finished speaking, always talking without stopping.
Megumi stands up, unsure, but follows the pink haired boy nonetheless. It's not like he has a choice anyways, this boy is quite forward with himself and what he wants. He throws a glance at his guardians but Suguru only gives him an encouraging smile. Yuji leads them all the way to the bathroom and opens a drawer filled with a bunch of colorful hairclips and hairpins and nail polishes and a bunch of other stuff stuffed into the drawer.
They can be heard all the way to the living room, especially as loud as Yuji is.
“You can pick whichever you like! I don't care, we can even match. Or not, I don't mind,” he explains and starts to look through all the clips, explaining which ones are his favorite and which ones are the most funny looking.
Megumi inspects the various choices lying neatly organized in compartments in front of him. It's nice to look at. Yuji gets some brownie points in his mind because Megumi likes organized things. He points a small finger at two clips when he’s decided, one pink and one green. “I want those two.”
“‘Kay!” He answers and grabs four, two pink and two green. So they can match of course.
When they walk back, hand in hand, it’s because Yuji hasn't let go of him. Not because of anything else.
Suguru has now cut the string tied to the hat. But, on either side of the cardboard cone, there's maybe four centimeters of string left. Suguru uses those four centimeters to clip the string to Megumi's hair, so he doesn't need to feel it under his chin. This way, he can still have a hat without getting sensory overload or feeling like he’s being choked.
When the hat is secured, Megumi manages a small smile and brushes his fingers against the colorful hat. Glad that he can be included without being uncomfortable. Without needing to pretend that he’s alright. Nice that he doesn’t have to put on a brave face.
“Yay!” Yuji exclaims, leaning closer to Megumi to show that he too has a green and pink hairclip holding back his bangs, with Sukuna's help.
Yuji, not realizing that Sukuna had stood up and left the table, was having a onesided conversation with Megumi about some dinosaurs when Sukuna came back.
Megumi’s eyes drifted and focused on something above Yuji's shoulder, obviously not listening to Yuji’s rambling anymore. This made the pink haired boy also look over his shoulder to see what had caught Megumi's attention. Just as he twisted around, a chorus of voices began to sing.
“Happy birthday to you.”
His eyes lit up as he saw Sukuna carrying a big cake on a platter, walking carefully towards the table to bend down and place it down in front of Yuji.
“Happy birthday to you.”
Half of it was spiderman and the other half was of his favorite monster high character, Draculara.
“Happy birthday dear Yuji, happy birthday to you!”
“Blow out the candles!” Yuki said with a laugh as soon as the singing had quieted down.
Choso, sitting next to her, was wiping tears with one hand while the other had his phone out. He knows why, he knows exactly why Choso is behaving like he is and why Yuki is looking at Yuji so fondly as he prepares to blow out the candles.
Choso and Yuki had fallen into the throes of teen pregnancy, the two had just turned nineteen when Yuki had found out the news. Even though they weren’t prepared for a child at all, it didn’t take away the excitement and thrill of being pregnant and becoming parents.
Yuki had an easy pregnancy with little to no complications. The labor went smoothly and they had a healthy baby girl that weighed more than average, their new addition was welcomed by loving hands. Choso was ecstatic.
It didn’t last long.
When their child was only a little more than two years old, she fell ill and her state worsened rapidly. She was diagnosed with childhood leukemia.
She was immediately put on chemotherapy but even that had no chance against her fast spreading cancer.
She passed shortly after turning three, after she had been fighting for almost a year. She passed peacefully and the parents found peace that their angel was no longer in pain anymore.
The funeral was an intimate small thing, only the closest to them allowed. Sukuna was one of them, he has known Choso the longest out of everyone in the friendgroup. Back before Sukuna got to know Uraume, before Satoru and then Suguru as an addition because they are a two-pack-deal.
It was heartbreaking to see his strong friend Yuki cry at the service as she held their child's old stuffed animal.
But Sukuna has to say, it was beautiful.
There were multiple videos of their child playing on a screen. There was a calm lullaby going on repeat in the background, one Sukuna recognized Choso would recite to her before bedtime. Her coffin was the smallest one Sukuna had ever seen before. It had been custommade and it was so so colorful.
It was a hard time for the couple. They never talk about their child anymore, at least not what Sukuna knows of. But their lost child had made it so that Choso has some unusual natural connection to all the children he meets. He suspects it’s a form of coping or dealing. Even though it happened years ago, right around when Yuji was still a baby, the wound is something Sukuna suspects has just started to scab.
So, he doesn’t blame the couple for the feelings they’re currently displaying.
But it's quickly forgotten when out of nowhere, Sukuna remembers to bring out the confetti fireworks he bought to hand out to everyone. He blindly puts his hand under the table, wiggling it around until someone takes the firework from Sukuna’s grip when it has accidentally bumped against someone. There’s one for each adult and one for Megumi, though Sukuna doesn’t think Megumi will be able to use it because they can be a little hard to twist and get stuck sometimes.
Sukuna looks at everyone and nods as a signal, everyone nods back as confirmation, saying that they’re ready. He sees, out of the corner of his eyes, Suguru whisper something to Megumi, in which the black haired boy slaps his palms over his ears in a hurry before turning away, starting to swing back and forth in a repetitive motion, and as a result of a now silent room, he can faintly hear Megumi hum to himself. Suguru picks up Megumi’s forgotten firework and hides it under the table so Yuji can’t see it and leans against his son as a form of comfort.
Sukuna begins to mouth silently, “Three, two, one.”
On one they all set off their respective fireworks at the same time, filling the room with an off beat amount of noise— because someone set theirs off faster and someone was slower— and colorful confetti. All was angled away from the cake of course. Sukuna, who was sitting next to Yuji, pointed his straight up so that it could fall back over Yuji like snowfall.
Yuji’s face scrunched up with the biggest smile Sukuna has ever seen on the boy, looking around the room in wonder. He blows out the seven candles in one, big blow, blowing and blowing until he starts to wheeze from how long he goes on for.
When all the candles have smoke curling from them, everyone begins to clap, Satoru even whoops out loudly. Yuji laughs wetly, wiping away a tear with his elbow. He hugs Sukuna, still sitting next to him and mutters a quiet, “Thank you, this is the best birthday ever,” it was filled with gratitude and love.
Sukuna, weak for his nephew, just nodded towards the cake, making Yuji look at it, throat tight and unable to verbally answer.
“Is that Draculara?! Megumi look!” he shouts, pointing at the cake. “That’s my favorite character from Monster High! Have you seen it?”
Megumi turns back around and shyly shakes his head, hands coming down from his ears to pool in his lap, eyes locked on Yuji's finger as he swipes some cream off the cake to pop his finger in his mouth, licking off the cream. He hums delightfully, it’s his favorite flavor, chocolate with raspberries mixed into the cream.
“Oh, well that's alright, maybe we can watch it together sometime?” He says it as if it's that easy. “We can have a sleepover!”
Megumi just nods either way, finding it hard to say no to this boy as he fiddles with a piece of confetti.
Soon, the cake is cut into several pieces and the birthday boy gets the first piece.
Yuji looks over the table and his heart swells at the sight of everyone gathered here for him. He’s glad that his uncle's friends are so kind, and he's glad that Megumi's here too, he has a feeling that they will be great friends, when the boy eventually becomes more comfortable of course, Yuji will make sure of it.
But sitting here, he can’t help but feel so unbelievably loved.
────•⋅⊰༻♥༺⊱⋅•────
“Okay,” Sukuna says and claps his hands, he looks around the room, making sure to catch everyone's eye at least once. His eyes linger on Yuji, who's currently wiggling in his seat on the sofa waiting for his uncle to continue speaking. “The rules are to hide inside, alright? No room is off limits but as soon as you go outside, you're disqualified. No exceptions," he clarifies and looks pointedly at Satoru.
It's not late, it's only 3pm but everything for the most part has been cleared and cleaned up, at least the things that could go bad. The bowls of candy and chips are still on the table, Satoru still shoving mouthfuls as Sukuna explains the rules. They’re going to play hide and seek and everyone is going to hide except for the seeker and Jin and Kaori who are currently cleaning up.
The good thing is that Sukuna lives alone in a big house so there's plenty of room to hide, the bad thing is that it’ll take a while to find everyone.
He walks over to a shelf in the living room and grabs a bowl, in the bowl are a bunch of small, folded papers with everyone's names on them. The name that gets pulled will be the seeker.
Yuji has the honor of grabbing the slip of paper. He sticks his hand in the bowl, eyes closed and biting his lip as he swirls his around, jostling all the small paper slips. He grabs ahold of a name and unfolds it. He looks up at the room, who is now buzzing with anticipation, waiting to hear the sentence.
“Megumi!”
The boy's head snaps up and immediately sinks back to hide behind Suguru, looking almost panicked. He wiggles himself in between Suguru's back and where he's resting against the sofa. Only his spiky black hair is visible. Yuji, witnessing this panic-like-hiding crunches up the paper and throws it to the side. Even though Sukuna knows that Yuji loves to hide and hates to seek, he didn't bother making a label with Yuji's name on it because he wants this day to be as fun as it could be.
The same boy who hates seeking is the one that wants to comfort Megumi. “I can be the seeker!” he says, looking up at Sukuna for… permission?
Sukuna just nods, lips pulling up as he ruffles Yuji's hair. “Whatever you want, kid, it’s your day.”
A relieved sigh can be heard from behind Suguru, a green eye is soon visible and he gives Yuji a small thumbs up in appreciation.
Yuji rushes to a corner and turns his back to the room, shoves his face to the wall and covers his eyes. “I’m going to start counting now okay? Go hide!”
It was so sudden that everybody rose from the sofa at the same time, knocking into each other. Swearing because they hadn't planned or thought where they would hide yet. Yuji gave them no time to think.
Yuji begins to count out loud, stressing everyone out even more.
Sukuna is the last to leave the room and he panics because even though this is his home, he has no idea where he should hide. He rushes over to his laundry room and opens a cupboard. “Fuck off,” Satoru hisses and closes the cabinet. “This place is mine dude.”
Sukuna swears and rushes back out, he tries to tiptoe up to the second floor, tries to be as quiet as possible but the stairs creak.
“I hear someone going upstairs!” Yuji notes.
He continues walking and goes into the walk-in closet in his bedroom. There, in between his hanging clothes, sits Megumi, crouched into the corner and attempting to make himself as small as possible. Megumi looks up when he hears someone cross the threshold but looks away when he sees the face of a person he doesn't know. He shrinks into himself.
“Hey kid,” he whispers.
“Ready or not, here I come!”
Sukuna panics, he raises his hands, palms out, showing ‘peace.’ “Can I hide with you?”
Megumi looks taken aback, maybe a little scared but he nods anyway and scooches more to the side, even though there's no place left for him to go. Sukuna crouches down and crawls right into his clothes, he leaves the door open so he can hide behind it because when the door is open, it blocks out some of his clothes hanging behind it.
Sukuna whispers, “Thanks kid, I appreciate it,” he chuckles quietly. “I walked in on your dad, he scared me.” He hears Yuji stomping around somewhere downstairs.
Megumi smiles at that. “Satoru?”
Sukuna nods, “The very one.”
Megumi covers his mouth, trying not to smile, he looks away instead. “He’s bad at hiding. I always find him first when we play at home,” he whispers back just as quietly.
Sukuna opens his mouth to say something more but quickly shuts when he hears Yuji thunder up the stairs. “Where is everyone?” He already sounds frustrated.
Sukuna puts a finger up to his lips, flashing his eyes at Megumi to make him quiet down, but it's all theatrical of course. He doesn't want to be a man that scares this kid even more and he calms a little when he sees Megumi’s lip tug up.
Yuji comes into Sukuna's bedroom and quickly peeks inside the closet. “Found you!” he says and walks over to Megumi, grabs his hand and leaves.
Sukuna freezes and wonders how Yuji didn't see him. Sure he's behind the door but, like, is the kid blind?
Sukuna chuckles softly and leans his head back against the wall and waits to be found.
────•⋅⊰༻♥༺⊱⋅•────
“That was a good hiding place Megumi but if you had turned the lights off I wouldn't have found you as easily,” he says, dragging Megumi behind him. “But it's okay, now you can help me look for the others.”
Megumi doesn't answer, but he does help by keeping an eye out.
The black haired boy peeks inside the bathroom and he sees Haibara lying in the tub, he looks at Megumi with pleading eyes, making shushing motions and praying hands but Megumi tugs at Yuji's hand and points to the tub. “There’s someone hiding in here,” his voice is dry, deadpan.
Yuji whoops and peeks inside, Haibara groans loudly but it trails off into a laugh. “Found you Haibara!”
“You did. Man, I thought this place was good.”
“It was,” Yuji assures. “I wouldn't have found you if it wasn't for Megumi.”
The raven haired boy ducks his head as his cheeks bloom with heat. Haibara walks down the stairs to the designated place where you walk when you're found. The boys continue their search.
After finding Nanami cramped behind a chair and Uraume lounging under a bed, the duo walk downstairs to search there. When they pass the downstairs bathroom Megumi admits that he needs to use the restroom.
The game has been ongoing for twenty minutes at this point and the adults that have thrown themselves into tight, small places, will have to wait even longer to be found because Yuji simply says, “Okay! I'll wait outside for you!”
Satoru groans from where he's hiding in the cupboard, the room right next to the toilet, so he hears the boys just fine. His neck is cramping and he lost feeling in his legs fifteen minutes ago.
Megumi walks inside the bathroom but hesitates by the doorway, hand tightly gripping the handle.
Yuji’s brows bunched together. "What's wrong?”
“The light…”
Yuji hums in question.
“It's bright,” Megumi clarifies, looking down at his feet where he's toeing at a q-tip that’s fallen.
“Oh! That's okay, my uncle has some really cool lights if you do this…” he says and fiddles with whatever he's found to fiddle with, “the light becomes less bright!”
Megumi thanks Yuji and closes the door behind him, Yuji sinks down against the wall and waits for his friend. During this time, he plants his heels against the floor and knocks his feet together while he thinks of all the places he has hid before and decides that he'll look at those places first.
It's not long before the toilet is flushed and the sink is turned on, the door opens and out steps Megumi. Yuji scrambles to his feet and tells him his plan. “Okay, so we'll search the places I usually hide and then we can continue.”
“Okay.”
Yuji grabs ahold of Megumi's wrist, it's cold and wet from handwashing, and continues forward. He ducks inside the laundry room and just as he's about to leave, a loud sneeze could be heard from inside a cupboard.
Yuji gasps and turns towards Megumi, he looks a little scared but nods at Yuji. Open the door, he says.
Yuji tip toes up to the door with Megumi hot on his heels and wrenches the cupboard open. Satoru shrieks like a girl, hand held over his heart in terror as he stares at the two boys. “Found you!” Yuji jumps up and down.
Satoru hesitantly laughs. “You scared me,” he mutters.
Yuji leaves Satoru there to continue searching. They walk upstairs again and he even walks closer to the other set of stairs that’s sitting at the end of the hall of the second floor. The ones that are smaller and more steep. The one's that leads up to the attic. The one place Yuji's always too scared to go and explore. But, now he has a companion with him, so it'll be fine, right?
He gulps and tightens the grip he has on Megumi. “Are you ready?”
Megumi, equally scared, nods without knowing what they're getting themselves into.
Yuji creeps up the steps, taking one raised wooden platform at a time, glancing behind every so often to see that Megumi is alright. The stairs feel like they're going on forever, looming up ahead.
When they get to the last step they stare into a black abyss. Yuji runs his hand along the wall, looking for a lightswitch, he flicks it on when he finds it. The low roofed attic lights up but the light only provides its glow right where they're standing, it doesn't illuminate the whole attic.
They quietly trek further inside the attic, Megumi sticking closer to Yuji's side. Almost hugging him from behind, he even brings a hand up to hold Yuji's arm. When Yuji steps on a creaky floorboard, his breath hitches in terror before he relaxes again. He stops and leans forwards, trying to see more without needing to walk further. He sighs in relief, albeit very shakily. “I don't think anybody's here. We can go down—”
Megumi screams in terror as he sees something Yuji does not see. He points behind Yuji and he turns around just in time to see someone crawl further back in the attic, where the roof is more tilted.
It looks like a monster. The body is big and has long hair obscuring their whole face, they sit up on their knees and look straight at them, one eye peering out from bangs hanging over their face.
Yuji screams and turns around to run, not even taking a moment longer to think. If he wants to survive he needs to run now. He trips on something and falls face first onto the hard, wooden floor, Megumi makes a distressed sound.
Yuji looks up, tears in his eyes, ever the one for dramatics. “Run Megumi! Leave me here, I don't want you to die too!”
Megumi's own eyes waters.
“Boys—”
“It can talk! Run Megumi!”
Megumi bends down to grab ahold of Yuji's hand but he lets go just as fast as the creature starts to stand up. Megumi takes the first thing he sees, some old Christmas ornament, and chucks it in the vague direction of the monster.
A small grunt can be heard in response.
“Good aim Megumi! Do it again! Save us!” Yuji is still whimpering from his position on the floor, doing nothing to help Megumi in this battle.
“Guys—”
Megumi, still panicking, picks up something else. A candle of sorts, and hurls it the same direction as before. Megumi takes advantage of the moment, when the monster is distracted and heaves Yuji up and continues to run. They're both actively crying now, tears blurring their vision, getting more hysterical when they hear the monster closing up on them.
They fly down the attic stairs and run into a worried and frantic looking Sukuna. “What’s going on? I heard you so I came—”
Yuji runs into Sukuna’s hold and cries. “There’s a monster up in the attic! It almost got us!” he wails, pointing a finger behind him. Megumi is crying too in Sukuna's hold, hands twisting into his shirt. He runs his large hands down each of the boy's hairs and looks towards the infamous stairs.
“The hell?” he mutters. His confusion is short-lived when he sees Suguru trail down the stairs, tying his hair up into a bun while rubbing at his forehead.
“Its just me,” he mutters, almost a little guiltily. “I tried to tell them it was me,” he says and looks up at Sukuna.
He raises an eyebrow in response.
Suguru sighs and continues. “My ass was starting to hurt from sitting so long so I was going to move to another spot but they caught me mid crawling and my hair had fallen out of its bun so I might have looked a little scary? It was quite dark, I don't know… I tried to talk to them but that just freaked them out.”
He walks closer and picks Megumi up. Putting him on his hip, trying to calm him down but the boy only wiggles in his hold and searches for Yuji. He's put down and he rushes over to his friend. They both cry in each other's hold.
Yuki and Choso, the last two hiding, come out at the commotion, not understanding why the birthday boy is crying along with his friend.
Has this day been ruined like the one last year?
They're herded downstairs where they can continue their crying fit on the sofa. Yuji stuffs his face with chips, comfort eating, something he’s done ever since he was a baby, while Megumi keeps wiping his face.
He hates crying. Hates how it makes his skin feel tacky and itchy. Hates how it makes his eyes swell up.Hates how it makes him so dry.
The lights have been dimmed per Yuji’s wish but Sukuna suspects it has something to do with the raven haired boy and how he kept squinting at the lights, how he had held his hands over his ears before when they were crying.
Megumi leaned against Yuji and Yuji leaned against him. Sukuna wordlessly turns on the TV and sees Yuji brighten. “‘Kuna turn on Monster High! Megumi and I can watch the first episode together right now!”
Suddenly, he seems brighter. Crisis averted.
Sukuna obliges, not able to say no to the kid and starts to clean up. Everyone helps except for Uraume who seems engrossed in the move, sitting curled up in one corner of the sofa with a glass of wine they helped themselves to.
He must have been cleaning for quite some time and the party must have taken its toll on the boys because when he returns to the living room, a glass of soda in his hand because he’s trying to stay sober, he finds the two boys asleep. Leaning against each other.
Sukuna grabs a blanket thrown over the couch and shakes it out. He drapes it over the two and gently plucks the bowl from Yuji's hand. He backs away and takes a picture of the two to save in the photo album he has of Yuji.
There's plenty of pictures from various occasions, but the latest photos are all from today.
There’s one he took from when they sang happy birthday, another one when he was mid bite of eating cake. There was one where he was opening presents, a blurry one where he was screaming and holding up a doll of Draculara. There's one where he drags Megumi along with him to show him around the house, the backs of the boys visible to the camera as they walk away. There's a selfie of the birthday boy and his uncle, both smiling brightly at the camera, identical dimples on display. There's one where he's sitting on Satoru's shoulders and one where he's playing with Suguru's hair. There's even one where he wrestles with Uraume and of course, there's a bunch of pictures of him and Choso.
In this picture though, he makes a little note.
“Yuji’s seventh birthday ended up with him falling asleep with his new friend, Megumi. I'd say it was a success even if the two began to cry.”
He adds in a group photo of everyone, Sukuna's face being close up as he's the one holding the camera. The background is filled with everyone else present and Yuji has the biggest smile ever, the one that captures everyone's attention and makes you ignore everyone else in the picture, attention immediately drawn to him.
On that one he notes:
“Do you see how loved you are, Yuji?”
Sukuna sends all the pictures to his computer to print out later. He has a physical photo album for a reason. Because his nephew loves to flip through them and gasp at the fact that there's so many pictures of him. Gets teary eyed at the fact that someone wants to take so many pictures of him.
So, with that thought, Sukuna is already planning the party for next year. Thinking of how it can be better than this one to show Yuji how loved he actually is.